Cisco Retires Azure Local Offering Following Microsoft Hardware Shift
The networking giant will cease sales of its Azure Local bundles in October, citing changes to Microsoft's supported hardware and partnership requirements.
Cisco is exiting the Azure Local market, opting to retire its offering rather than adapt to new hardware requirements mandated by Microsoft, as first reported by The Register. According to that reporting, Cisco issued an end-of-life and end-of-sale notice on July 24, stating that sales of its Azure Local bundles will conclude in October.
According to The Register, Cisco will not provide a direct replacement for the product, though the company is encouraging its customers to look into other HCI solutions using Cisco Compute. A Cisco spokesperson pointed to a June 16 Microsoft blog post as the catalyst for the decision.
In that post, Microsoft announced it has eliminated the option to run Azure Local on "Validated Nodes." Sarah Lean, a Microsoft pre-sales Azure technical architect, noted on her personal blog that Validated Nodes previously offered the most flexibility, allowing customers to build their own setups from a validated list or buy complete setups from hardware vendors. Lean noted that under the Validated Node model, users maintained control over hardware, software deployment, firmware, and driver updates.
Microsoft now requires users to choose between "Premier Solutions" or "Integrated Solutions," both of which require the solution builder and Microsoft to integrate their support services. The Register reports that Cisco's Azure Local products fell under the Validated Nodes category. Cisco has apparently decided not to pursue the Premier or Integrated Solution paths.
While Cisco has not detailed the specific reasoning behind its departure, independent analyst Michael Warrilow suggested to The Register last week that the Microsoft product is not yet a fit for traditional data center requirements. This may have influenced Cisco's decision to avoid the investment required to align its hardware with Microsoft's stack.
This move follows a period of volatility for Cisco in the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) space. The Register notes that in 2023, Cisco discontinued its HyperFlex offering and began recommending Nutanix instead.